Training Log Archive: IndyBass

Event: Flying Pig XI
 

Miami Whitewater North - M40+ Middle Distance

Generally, this was a pretty enjoyable day to kick off the weekend. I haven't been on a map in the woods for 2.5 months, and it feels good to be back at it.

Aside from #1 (took me too long to get my head into the technical section), this was a pretty clean run for me. I was happy to see that my overall pace was only a bit slower than my goal pace (15m/k), and on par with what I was running in late December.

I did feel the impact of my lack of outdoor running lately, though. The weather has kept me away from my SWWay Park hill loop for quite a while, and I felt it in my legs today.

I was really happy with my nav in the 11-14 technical section. I think I did a good job of simplifying the terrain and visualing a path through to the next bag. I spiked all these controls.

The big disappointment was the ankle sprain on the hard dirt road on the way to #15. My legs were fatigued, and I forgot to take some of the precautions that I usually take when faced with a hard surface in spikes. I don't remember even checking to see if there was grass at the side of the road, and I made no special effort to tense up my lower leg muscles as a precautionary measure. Then I hit a small rock or stick with the inside of my right shoe and turned my ankle.

Now, a couple of days later, I realize that my time with these shoes must come to an end. With my current weight and build, I can't continue to risk injury with shoes that emphasize traction over lateral stability. I do love the traction, but my recovery time from a sprain is too long to keep risking it. I need to seek out a stable trail shoe that doesn't sacrifice that stability too much for traction. Suggestions would be appreciated.

C • Trail shoes 5

Red - Splits

HRav/10mins = 141/151/157
HRav/overall = 140
HRmx/overall = 167
Tempo = 165bpm

HRs look really low this morning, compared to the first three miles of each of the weekend jogs. This will be the last exercise before the Pig. I've been fairly diligent since October, trying to build endurance. I hope it is enough. That 8+km Sunday course will be the first course of that length that I've tried since the Blue Ridge Challenge last year. Let's hope for better results!

HRav/10mins = 151/159/163/167/171
HRav/overall = 150
HRmx/overall = 177
Tempo = 165bpm

HRav/10mins = 148/158/164/170/176
HRav/overall = 152
Tempo = 165bpm

Well, my 40th birthday was Friday, 3/9, and in ultimate defiance of getting old (not something I really think about, but it's fun to write), Jen got me something that I had been looking at for a while: One of those ultra-small, ultra-hip iPod Shuffle mp3 players (in orange, of course).

I wanted an mp3 player to use while on the treadmill. The only other place that I listen to music in any quantity (the car) is already equipped to handle mp3's. I thought some personal tunes on the 'mill might "help the medicine go down", as it were.

There's an outrageously popular podcast on iTunes called "Podrunner", done by an amateur DJ called "DJ Steveboy" (http://www.djsteveboy.com/). It features hour-long, fixed-bpm mixes of electronic/dance music for use while running or exercising. In anticipation of getting the Shuffle, I made a note of my jogging cadence on the 'mill, and downloaded three workout mixes at that tempo (165bpm).

I used the Shuffle for the first time on my 5-mile run today, and OH MY, what a difference it made! Yes, the time went by more quickly, and yes, it was a welcome distraction additional to the closed-captioned movie I was watching, but the real surprise was how much harder it is to jog at a fixed cadence for a length of time.

When I fatigue, my stride begins to naturally widen, so that my cadence goes down while maintaining the same speed. By fixing my cadence/stride with the music, the difficulty as I fatigued increased noticably. In the fourth mile, I would slip out of sync with the music occasionally, and had to correct. In the fifth mile, it was quite challenging to maintain cadence, and I fell out all the time.

I'm very happy with the Shuffle.